HARBOR BRANCH - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

PROTECT WILD DOLPHINS SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATE PROGRAM DISTRIBUTES NEARLY $430,000 IN GRANTS TO MOTE MARINE LABORATORY, FSU, THE SMITHSONIAN, AND OTHER GROUPS FOR 2004

FT. PIERCE -- Aug. 04/04 -- This week, the Protect Wild Dolphins specialty license plate program is distributing nearly $430,000 in funds generated through plate sales to institutions across the state. The money will support six new or ongoing dolphin research programs by the Smithsonian Institution, Florida State University, Mote Marine Laboratory, the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and EcoArray, Inc., based in Alachua.

The Protect Wild Dolphins specialty license plate, launched in 1999, is the second best-selling plate in the state and has distributed over $2 million in external funding since its inception. Another $3 million has been used to further Harbor Branch's dolphin research programs and provide care and assistance to dozens of stranded animals throughout the Indian River Lagoon (more information on Harbor Branch dolphin research). Each year a $30,000 fund is also established to reimburse other authorized organizations for expenses incurred while providing care and assistance to sick and injured marine mammals.

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution administers all proceeds from the sale of the dolphin plate, and outside research grants from the program are awarded based on a competitive "peer-review" proposal process. The program makes final grant awards based on recommendations from an independent and unbiased panel of dolphin researchers and resource managers.

2004 Awards:

1) Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota has been awarded two grants totaling $95,757, bringing total support for Mote dolphin research through the Protect Wild Dolphins program to over $1 million.

• The first grant will study the impact of red tide toxins on dolphin health and mortality in southwest Florida, which is not yet known. This work will be a collaborative project involving numerous other institutions including the Chicago Zoological Society, the Florida Marine Research Institute, Florida Aquarium, Harbor Branch, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, NOAA-National Ocean Service, Portland State University, the Southwest Florida Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and the University of Illinois.
Contact: Deborah Fauquier, 941-388-4441 ext. 455, dfauquier@mote.org

• The second grant will support a study of the habitat selection by wild dolphin prey in Sarasota Bay. Such information is vital if managers are to properly assess and manage the impacts human activities such as development are likely to have on nearby dolphin populations.
Contact: Damon Gannon, 941-388-4441 ext. 450, damon@mote.org

2) The Smithsonian Institution will receive $68,886 to support a study of the causes of low survivorship among baby dolphins in the Sarasota Bay area. The study will focus on dolphin calve nutrition. Areas of interest will include the composition of maternal milk and the intake of solid foods by calves. Ultimately the group hopes to identify nutritional deficiencies and their causes. Laboratory work for this project will be based at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., and much of the work will be open for viewing by the park's 2.5 million annual visitors.
Contact: Kristi West, 808-230-8976

3) Florida State University has been awarded $92,535 to allow the first comprehensive study of the distribution and ecology of wild dolphins in Florida's Big Bend region. The research will provide data that will enable proper management of these dolphins, and better understanding of the impact of a mass mortality event recently documented in St. Joe Bay, as well as provide baseline data about dolphins from this pristine area against which other dolphin populations can be compared.
Contact: Douglas Nowacek, 850-645-1547, nowacek@ocean.fsu.edu

4) With $89,945 in funding, researchers from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, will create a unique, long-term digital database of whistle recordings from bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota, Florida, which have been recorded over the past 30 years. The database will be made available to other researchers and will contribute to research on such aspects of dolphin biology as behavior, communication, and stress assessment.
Contact: Laela Sayigh,508-457-0083, sayighl@uncw.edu

5) EcoArray, Inc., an Alachua-based company, will use $79,934 in funding to test the feasibility of using gene chips for performing health assessments on Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Widely used in the medical field, gene chips are advanced genomics research tools that allow the identification of specific genes in DNA samples. If successful the work may allow, for instance, the identification of dolphins with genes known to be associated with certain diseases.
Contact: Patrick Larkin, 386-418-1400, plarkin@biotech.ufl.org

For more information about the Protect Wild Dolphins program, please contact Mark Schrope at 772-216-0390, or schrope@hboi.edu.

HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution was founded in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 1971 to support the exploration and conservation of the world's oceans. The institution has held to this mission and grown into one of the world's leading oceanographic institutions with a 500-acre campus, over 200 personnel, and a fleet of sophisticated research ships and submersibles.